Kratos Aurion
Basic Information Name: Kratos Aurion Username: salvationfound Series: Tales of Symphonia Played by: Kukki Age: Somewhere in his 4000s. It should be noted that he's a little older than Yuan. Height: 6'1" Weight: 172 lbs Hair: Auburn, more on the red side. Eyes: The same color as his hair – brownish red. Appearance: Straight posture, has tendency to become a wallflower in a crowd, wears dark, sometimes muted colors, usually wears a cloak or epaulettes around his shoulders. He really comes off as intimidating at times, what with his almost statue like appearance and serious business face. Occasionally he has sparkly blue wings, but only once in a blue moon. Birthplace: Tethe'alla, many, many years ago. Abilities: Although his abilities are dampened thanks to Luceti's barrier, he's still a very skilled opponent. With four thousand years of swordsmanship at his side, he's a master with the blade. He ingested an Aionis stone long ago, giving him the ability to use magic just like any other elf or half-elf. He has little skill with Luceti magic; instead he uses the limited knowledge to combine it with his own power, boosting their strength. His angelic power gives him even more physical strength. Because of this, he has enhanced eyesight, hearing and other senses, and thanks to Luceti's power, he doesn't have the ability to turn this off anymore. Rather, he still has enhanced eyesight and hearing, but his ability to turn off his sense of feeling and other such things is gone. He can feel hot and cold just like any other person, and he requires food and sleep as well. Kratos can also fly by way of his angelic wings, which are made from his own mana. He rarely uses this, though. Occupation: Astronaut. In all honesty, Kratos acted as a mercenary for most of his life, although he was really an angel of Cruxis, which will be explained in time. Before he arrived in Luceti, Kratos made it his duty to travel on Derris-Kharlan to rid of the Exspheres still left on it, and to find another world for the angels that reside on the comet. He may never return to Aselia. Background Information Knight NOTE: This is mostly head canon and bits of what Tales of Fandom explains. Kratos was born into a noble family in the kingdom of Tethe'alla. His father was a knight, and his mother stayed at home to care for her child. It was a quiet upbringing, and although the Aurion family kept half-elf slaves in their home, his mother and father treated them as equals, only giving them the title of slave to ward off suspicion against them. His parents taught him to never judge character by outwardly appearance, but by their spirit. They also raised him to be polite and proper, and he received private tutoring from many scholars. One of the things he was most interested in was the ways of the knight, and he trained to become a squire. As he grew, he became successful in his lessons, enough to be considered one of the best. At the age of 21, Kratos received the title of Knight by the king of Tethe'alla himself. At this age, he also found a bird named Noishe, and it was later revealed that the bird was actually an Arshis. Eventually, it would change forms and become a large dog-like creature. During his rounds, he found a human abusing a half-elf slave. Instead of doing the smart thing and turning a blind eye, Kratos intervened. Although the slave was pessimistic about the rescue, he still introduced himself as Yuan, and though the two were constantly at odds considering they were on opposing sides, they still taught each other many things about their race and culture. It was through Yuan that Kratos became interested in the magical arts, even though the former told him that it was impossible for a human to wield such power. A part of him still craved it. It wasn't long until he received word that his father was killed in battle. Kratos grieved for him along with his mother, and yet he knew that he had to move on and become the man of the household. He did his best to support his mother and the half-elf slaves that he came to inherit. Still, it was a large burden on his shoulders. He matured fast and learned responsibility from it, though it was hard to maintain everything. During those years, he also met the Tethe'allan princess. The woman grew very attracted to him, and he couldn't deny that she was beautiful. In a way, she was his first love, though his feelings for her didn't extend beyond admiration and respect. He followed her wishes, even when this meant her stealing his first kiss (he didn't mind too much, anyway). Seeing an opportunity, the king arranged for the two of them to wed, and they agreed to it. But at the age of twenty-seven, Kratos met a pair of half-elf siblings, Martel and Mithos Yggdrasil. The two warned him of a plot that Sylvarant was about to unleash on the kingdom of Tethe'alla to destroy it. He was chosen to speak with them and relay the message with the king considering his relationship with the princess. Sadly, the king wouldn't listen to the half-elves, and thus the capital was destroyed. Most of Kratos' half-elf slaves as well as his mother were killed, too. Because of Kratos' alliance with the half-elf siblings, the remaining survivors thought he was on their side, and thus he was relieved of his knightly duties and exiled from the recovering capital of Tethe'alla. Only Yuan was left alive from the Aurion house, and so, Kratos introduced him to the Yggdrasil siblings. He planned early on to join them, for they were traveling the world in an effort to put an end to discrimination. Kratos took Mithos under his wing and became his teacher, while Yuan joined simply to prove their dream wrong. This is how the "Four Kharlan Heroes" were born. Angel When Kratos was twenty-eight, they all acquired jewels that granted them such strength and power that they kept it to themselves, hoping to use it for good. They were not only the Four Kharlan Heroes, but also the Four Seraphim. The jewels were Cruxis Crystals, and it allowed them to have angel wings and enhanced abilities. It also stopped time within their bodies, allowing them to never age. They went on a long, perilous journey, seeing everything that Lloyd's group would in the distant future. The war waged on, and the overuse of magi-technology caused the Great Kharlan Tree, which provided the world's mana, to wither away. At the end of their journey, Mithos had made pacts with all of the summon spirits, and he used their power to aid his ideals, just as he had promised to them. He acquired the Eternal Sword, a sword that was forged by Origin, and with it, he split Sylvarant and Tethe'alla into two separate worlds on shifted dimensions. The withered tree's seed was placed between the two worlds with Mana Links protecting it, and a system was created to preserve both worlds – sort of like an hour glass. One world would receive the most mana, leaving the other to wither, and years later this would start again, this time reversed. They planned on reviving the Great Seed with a large source of mana, named the comet called Derris-Kharlan, which would pass over their world soon. Unfortunately, before this could happen, Martel was assassinated by a human who wanted the comet's mana for himself. No one saw it coming. Mithos couldn't accept his sister's death, and so he quickly thought of a way to keep her with him so that he could revive her. He tied her Cruxis Crystal, which contained her consciousness, to the Great Seed. Instead of using Derris-Kharlan's power to awaken the Great Seed and thus save the worlds, he bound it to the planet using the power of the Eternal Sword. With it, he used its power to keep Martel's soul alive within the Cruxis Crystal. With that, Mithos created Cruxis and appointed himself as the head of the organization. His purpose was to find a suitable vessel for Martel so that she could walk the world by his side again. Kratos, believing fully in his student's ideals, became his right-hand man. Yuan was still skeptical, not believing that this was what Martel would have wanted, and thus he created an underground organization called the Renegades in secret. It was Kratos' duty to guide the Chosen, someone who matched Martel's mana signature, to the Tower of Salvation under the belief that they would save the world and reverse the flow of mana once more. The true intention, however, was to kill the Chosen and use their body as a vessel, and any of their companions would also be killed. Human It would be four thousand years before Kratos would be able to open his eyes and realize that what Mithos was doing was wrong. Yuan had often approached him to tell him to release Origin's Seal, which he always refused. To do so would mean to end his own life, and he wasn't ready to that just yet. Not until he found the materials needed to allow a human being to wield the Eternal Sword and use it against Mithos. Kratos fled his place at Mithos' side and journeyed into the world, researching materials and traveling to different areas to find them, but they were rare. His quest led him to Asgard, specifically, to the Asgard Human Ranch. There, he met Anna. She was a prisoner there under Kvar's watch. Her body served as a host for a project that Kvar was doing – using a human being to grow a Cruxis Crystal inside them. Kratos would have passed her on by if she hadn't started talking to him. She spoke of the world and how she loved it still despite it being so screwed up, that it was a blue and beautiful one. Her ideals made him keep coming back and checking on her and, one day, he broke her out of the prison. He decided to hide her away from Kvar and at the same time find the materials needed for the Eternal Sword. After a while, the two fell in love. It was inevitable, really. Anna became Kratos' pillar of hope while his faith in Mithos was shaken. They secretly married and continued their own journey. A year passed, and a great shock came to them. Anna was pregnant. Kratos never wanted to be a father, and he knew that having a child in the family would slow them down considerably and increase their risk of being caught. Once Lloyd was born, though, his thoughts changed. He'd protect the child with every fiber of his being. They took Lloyd with them on their journey, traveling everywhere on the world of Sylvarant and doing their best to evade Kvar's forces. On Lloyd's third birthday, Kratos decided that he wanted to live and die with his new family, and so he removed his Cruxis Crystal, which started up the clock within his body again. This would prove to be a mistake. Only a few months later, the family went to Iselia to find a dwarf who could aid Kratos in his own personal journey, but at the human ranch, Kvar's forces caught up to them. Since Kratos was without his Cruxis Crystal, he wasn't as powerful as he was before. Despite how hard he tried, Kvar overpowered them all and removed Anna's Exsphere, causing her to turn into a monster and lose all sanity. She attacked Kratos and tried to kill Lloyd, but Noishe protected him and took the attack himself. Anna regained her mind for just a moment, and during that time, she begged for Kratos to kill her. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Time ran out, and Anna tried to attack Lloyd again, this time without Noishe to protect him. In a desperate attempt to protect his son, Kratos finally killed her. But even this was in vain. Kvar managed to make Anna, Noishe and Lloyd fall off of the steep cliff at the side of Iselia Ranch. Kratos couldn't save them, for his powers were gone and he still had men to fight. Once he was left alone, however, he immediately raced down the cliff. It seemed that he arrived too late. All he found was blood and soldiers who were already half eaten by monsters. In a puddle of blood, he found the little shoe that Lloyd was wearing. In an instant, Kratos lost everything he held dear to him. The world was no longer beautiful to him, but lost of hope and utterly dark. Everything was meaningless to him, despite Yuan's attempts to drag him out of his depression. He very nearly took his own life, but Mithos still needed him. It was with that in mind that Kratos attached the Cruxis Crystal to himself again and continued living. It didn't matter how many human lives would be killed anymore. He didn't care. Nothing mattered. This went on for fifteen years, and then he was charged to guide the Chosen of Sylvarant on her Journey of Regeneration. And thus began Tales of Symphonia. Father I would normally tell you to go get Tales of Symphonia and play it yourself, but I know how rare it is these days. So, I'll steal a history of the game in Kratos' perspective from our lovely Kyo. Kratos first appeared at the Martel Temple, where he saved Lloyd, Colette and Genis from Vidarr of the Renegades. Signing on as a bodyguard for the chosen Colette, he guided the party safely through the temple to the seal. He afterwards departed with Colette. The next time he was seen was at the Renegade Base in the Triet region, where he arrived along with Colette, Genis, and Raine to save Lloyd. They then travel across Sylvarant, destroying Human Ranches and releasing seals. At some point, they also recruited Sheena. However, at the final seal, the Tower of Salvation itself, Kratos revealed his true intentions. He had her complete the ritual, and then struck down the party when Remiel failed to do so. Even after defeating them, though, Kratos was hesitant to kill them, especially Lloyd, who was in fact his son (though the latter was unaware of this). Lord Yggdrasill himself had even showed up to finish them off, but a well-timed interference from the Renegades' Leader Yuan managed to save them. The party had set off on a journey to release mana links between the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. However, Kratos had his own plans, becoming a double agent. Encountering the party several other times, Kratos was searching across the two worlds, gathering the materials to forge the Eternal Ring so that the Eternal Sword could be remastered under a new pact. You see, once Kratos had learned that his son was alive, that flame of hope that existed in his heart while with Anna was rekindled. Kratos knew that Lloyd was the one who could take control of the Eternal Sword. Kratos worked to guide the party along on their journey, all the while still working faithfully under Yggdrasill, even confronting the party when their actions went against his plan, specifically with the releasing of the Mana Links. When the party arrived at the Tower of Salvation a second time, Kratos was there waiting for them, and captured them. However, this, too, was part of his plan, so that they could gather a Mana Fragment, one of the key ingredients needed to cure the Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium that Colette had contracted. Eventually, the party had managed to collect the materials to treat Colette, and had gathered at Altessa's house to accomplish that task. And that's when everything came together. Yuan had drugged the party, captured Lloyd, and blackmailed Kratos. It was at this point that Lloyd had learned the truth; that Kratos was his father. In addition, their dear friend Mithos, whom they had met sometime prior, revealed himself to be Yggdrasill, and attacked both Altessa and Tabatha. He then departed, taking Kratos with him. A doctor was scouted out in Flanoir to treat Altessa, and Lloyd stayed in the town while a few of his friends went with the doctor to heal Altessa. Depending on the player's choices, Lloyd could actually speak with Kratos at Flanoir, where he learns the truth behind his father's relationship with his mother, and what the circumstances behind her death were. Doing so sets the course for Zelos's death, and for Kratos to eventually rejoin. The party ventured to the Tower of Salvation one final time, where they are betrayed by Zelos, and Colette is handed over to Yggdrasill. After venturing through the Hall of the Great Seed, and each member sacrificed themself so Lloyd can continue, he made it to the final chamber, where he is reunited with his party, thanks to the efforts of either Kratos or Zelos. Afterwards, Kratos sets the final stages of his plan into action. Kratos acted as the seal for Origin, and without Origin, the Eternal Sword cannot be remastered. Kratos challenged Lloyd to a duel at the Torent Forest, with the intention of releasing the seal and ending his own life in the process. Kratos lost to Lloyd, and released the seal, but thanks to another intervention by Yuan, his life was saved. The party then forms a pact with Origin, and they then go to Dirk's House, as he is the only other dwarf who is capable of forging the Eternal Ring. Kratos also gave Lloyd the Flamberge, his trusted blade and one half of the Material Blades through which Lloyd remasters the Eternal Sword. After this point, depending on the player's actions, Kratos either stays behind at Dirk's House to recover, or accompanies the party to Derris-Kharlan to defeat Mithos. Both result in Mithos's death. Following the battle, Kratos tells Lloyd to send him off on Derris-Kharlan, where he will drift for the rest of his days, discarding all of Cruxis' Exspheres into space. As he departed, he left Lloyd with this command: "Don't die before I do, Lloyd... My son." Kratos was ready to release himself from the Cruxis Crystal he wore and start his new lonely life when he was brought into Luceti. Roleplay History When Kratos first arrived, he was greeted by Lloyd, someone he thought he'd never see again. He did something that he regretted not doing ever since he left – he embraced his son for the first time in fourteen years. He also grew closer to the rest of the Symphonia group, especially to Sheena and Raine. Yuan arrived in Luceti later on, and though the relationship between the two was rocky at first, they eventually grew to be best friends again, just as they always have. During the week of Lloyd's birthday, a terrible illness overcame the village of Luceti, and Lloyd caught the fatal version of it. Kratos felt his hope and will to carry on become shaken when Lloyd died, especially due to the fact that he stayed by his side the whole time and supported him as best as he can as he slowly spiraled to a painful death. Lloyd returned shortly after, but it still left a scar on Kratos. To this day, he fears for Lloyd's life and has become almost codependent on the boy. After this, he was kidnapped by the Malnosso. His angelic strength and abilities were abused, leaving his senses numb. This happened a second time much later on, although they went as far as to render him blind and deaf for a short time. During the second Valentine's event, Kratos ended up falling for Svala, a resident who arrived much later than he did. This opened up a new opportunity for him, and although it took them some time, they officially started a relationship together in the month of May. Kratos prefers to keep this hidden simply for the fact that he's a secretive person, and it seems only a few people know how close he is to Svala. She's very significant to him, although Kratos knows they don't share a future together. To this day, Kratos keeps to himself, though he won't hesitate to make public posts to keep the people of the village in line. Point in Canon Two weeks after Kratos drifted away from Aselia on Derris-Kharlan. He was just about to remove his Cruxis Crystal and live his life as a normal human before Luceti changed all of that. Personality Kratos is regarded as the polar opposite of Lloyd, making it hard for people to see their relation to each other. Where Lloyd is light hearted and kind, Kratos is serious and stern. One may regard him as a statue; Having lived so long, he can spend hours not saying a word or moving and be perfectly content. It's because of this, plus his stature and serious nature that makes him almost intimidating to those who don't know him and even to those who do. And yet despite that, Kratos still has the qualities of a knight. He is proper and polite, and he tries to throw out tips to better one's self through quick advice, even if they don't want it. He doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself, though. Sure, he knows that he's a great swordsman and a skilled mage, which makes him different from other humans, but he doesn't believe he's a good person at all, despite what others may say to him. Simple words can't dissuade at least a thousand years of mindset, after all. But he's stubborn and knows that it isn't his time yet. He knows that Lloyd needs him as a father, and his presence is a respected one in Luceti. Every day with Lloyd is a second chance and a blessing, and he treats it as such. Relationships Lloyd Irving – His pride and joy, quite literally so. Lloyd is easily the most important person in this village to him. Kratos had prepared himself to never see him again after he left Aselia on Derris-Kharlan, but now… he isn't so sure that he can do that anymore. He's really grown closer to Lloyd and truly gained the title that he secretly longed for – Dad. Svala – Well her username is certainly true for him. Since they met months ago, Kratos and Svala have grown from acquaintances to friends, and from that to lovers. Although he'd never say it, he's really come to fall in love with her, just as he'd done so for Anna. He still wonders how the latter would feel about this, but a part of him knows that she'd be happy that he's found love again. Svala is very special to Kratos, and he'll do his best to ensure her safety. Will update later!